From the Ashes
by coldfusion9797
Summary: Billie gains an unexpected ally in the wake of the fire. Will she be able to let go of her insecurities and accept the love she's been searching for?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Another H &A romance! Again I've gone with a pretty random pairing and this time it's something different for me because it's a het fic. I sort of like Billie even though she's a bit of a psycho, at least she's got some spunk, and I think it's about time VJ had a love interest.**

 **I guess the direction of this story will kinda depend on where they go with the show but I do already have an ending in mind. Anyway, enough from me, hope you all enjoy this one...**

When Billie woke it wasn't Marty by her bedside like she would have expected, it was that VJ guy. The one she'd yelled at for covering her car in graffiti.

"What are you doing here?" she rasped out. Her throat felt dry and raw like she'd been swallowing razor blades. She had a half-formed thought about water and her hand fumbled towards the bedside table where she thought it might be.

Her visitor noticed and helped her, holding the cup to allow her to sip from the straw.

"You were really brave today."

"Thanks," she managed to say around a painful swallow. She didn't feel brave. She felt groggy and sore and sorry for herself.

"The way you ran straight into the house was amazing. Zac and Matt and Oscar might've died if you weren't there."

The teenager seemed impressed by her heroics but in actual fact she hadn't even thought about it. She'd just acted on instinct. People in a burning building needed to get out as quickly as possible, simple as that.

She gave him the best smile she could muster, hoping that it might satisfy him enough to see that she was okay and that he could leave her alone. It seemed to have the opposite effect though. The kid looked determined to stay by the side of the person he deemed a hero. She didn't know what to say, all she felt like doing was sleeping. He watched her intently, the awe he felt plain on his face.

Just as the moment threatened to grow awkward Nate walked in.

"Billie, it's good to see you're awake." She didn't know how to feel about that, his hurtful words still echoed in her head. A waste of space he'd called her. Would he still think that now?

"Is it?" she bit back, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. Despite all that had passed between them she had hoped that he would come to see her in a different light. That maybe one day he'd realise he did have feelings for her. That seemed unlikely now after the way he'd spoken.

"Of course it is," Nate assured her, picking up her chart to read it. "How are you feeling?" She realised he was speaking as her doctor, nothing more, nothing less. He was polite and professional and she hated that he wasn't more upset that she'd been hurt. What was so wrong with her that none of the guys she liked wanted her?

"I'll wait outside," VJ announced. She'd forgotten he was there. He headed out into the corridor, miraculously not hitting his head on the door frame as he left. He was ridiculously tall for a kid.

"You were very lucky today," Nate told her.

"I don't feel lucky."

"Give it some time, your injuries could've been much worse."

"How are the others?"

"They're all fine. Thanks to you." He gave her a smile then, a more genuine one, and so far today it was the only thing that made her feel remotely better.


	2. Chapter 2

As if their old house wasn't already crowded enough, VJ thought, and now they were moving in with Maddy and Roo and Mr Stewart. It was nice of them to offer, but it did mean that the house was full.

Actually, it was overflowing so Matt had been given his old caravan back.

What it meant was that he now lived in an attic and one he had to share. Not that he intended to spend too much time up there without an Xbox to entertain him, but still...

Right now he'd rather be with Billie anyway, to make sure she was okay, so he caught the first bus back to Yabbie Creek.

When VJ arrived at the hospital he didn't expect to find Billie in a worse state than when he'd left. He'd assumed that her stay in hospital was just so the nurses could look after her burns, he hadn't imagined her life was in any danger but when he saw her hooked up to all the machines he knew something had gone wrong. He felt a touch of the old fear threatening to creep in. The one he'd spent months feeling following the bus crash, as he'd sat by his mother's bedside but he was determined to fight it until he had answers.

"What happened?" he demanded from Nate.

"It's okay VJ," his former housemate assured him. "There was some swelling in her respiratory tract which was to be expected. We've got her in an induced coma just until it goes down."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"So she'll be okay then?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, it's just going to take a little time is all."

"Okay. Thanks," VJ nodded, feeling better now the doctor had told him this was standard procedure. Still, he couldn't help worrying a bit about Billie, she looked so helpless all alone in her hospital bed. "Can I sit with her?"

"I don't see why not," Nate said, patting him on the arm and offering him a sympathetic smile.

He took up his new bedside vigil.

This one wasn't like the one for his mum. In his entire life his mother had been the only constant presence. For so long it had been the two of them against the world. Losing her would've rocked the very foundations of his existence. Billie on the other hand he barely knew but her fate seemed just as unfair. She was the only one that had had no reason at all to be in the house and she was the one that had ended up hurt. For as long as he lived he would never forget the courageous way she'd acted.

His attention was drawn away from her when he heard a commotion out in the corridor.

"How is she doc?" He recognised the agitated voice as Ash's. Apparently Billie's brother had finally decided to show up.

"We've had to put her in an induced coma for now."

"What? You said she was okay!" Ash accused.

"The swelling in her respiratory tract was quite sudden, we're doing everything we can for her."

"But she'll be alright?"

"That's not something we can know just yet."

That was a different story to the one Nate had told him.

"I want to see her," Ash said.

"Of course," the doctor agreed, leading him into the room.

When Nate walked in and VJ saw his guilty face he knew he'd been lied to. Nate had obviously forgotten he was here and now realised that he'd unwittingly revealed the truth.

"You liar!" he yelled, "you said she was going to be fine!"

"VJ, I-"

"I don't wanna hear it," he snapped, standing up and pushing past the doctor.

"VJ! Wait!" Nate called after him. VJ ignored the plea and rushed out of the building. He couldn't do it again. He couldn't sit there and not know if the person he lo-, cared about, was ever going to wake up. And if she didn't? If her injuries were too severe for her body to cope with? Well he knew for sure he didn't want to watch her die.

xxx

Standing amongst the charred remains of his former home VJ's anger at being lied to and coddled like the child he no longer saw himself as, had given way to sadness.

Everything was gone.

Most of it could be replaced, it was just stuff, he knew that but some things they wouldn't be able to replace. Things like photos of his dad.

"VJ? Is that you?" The voice belonged to Zac.

"Yeah."

"What are you doing here?"

"I guess I just had to see for myself what was left."

"Yeah, your mum and I did the same thing earlier."

"What are you doing back here then?"

"I was hoping," Zac said as he picked through some of the rubble, "to find something I could give her. Something to remind her that not everything is gone."

"Like what?" VJ asked, glad of the distraction. He began to pick through the rubble too.

"I don't know," Zac said. "Anything. Something she loved."

"Like this?" VJ said, uncovering a broken teapot. He pulled it from the debris.

Zac smiled at the find. "It's hideous, isn't it?"

"Yeah," VJ agreed with a half-hearted laugh, "but Mum loved it."

"She did, didn't she? I'll see what I can do with it."

VJ handed the broken pot over.

"Hey Zac?"

"Yeah mate?"

"You and the others were pretty lucky today, right?"

"Yeah. It definitely could've been a lot worse."

"If one of them had got hurt bad, could you have stayed in the hospital with them? After Mum I mean..."

"I dunno mate. I guess it's a good thing we don't have to find out, don't ya reckon?"

"Yeah, guess so..."

Maybe he was thinking about this the wrong way. Maybe it had nothing to do with what he wanted. Maybe what he needed to do was think about Billie and what she would want. Except that he didn't know her well enough to know what that might be and that thought left him hoping desperately that he would get the chance to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

When Kat came to the door and told them that the police had found the arsonist and that it was Billie, VJ knew it was a lie. A cruel and unjust one that his mum was a fool for believing. The main fact he took from the conversation was that Billie was awake and well enough to be arrested apparently, so he wanted to go and tell her that no matter what the cops said, he knew she hadn't done it.

He grabbed his wallet and headed for the door.

"VJ, where are you going?" His mum wanted to know.

"Out."

"Out where?"

"To the hospital. To see Billie. Oscar will come with me, won't you Oscar?"

"No way," Oscar said, "I nearly died in there."

"That's exactly why you should come. Billie saved your life."

"After she nearly got me killed."

"Don't be stupid, why would she do that?"

"Beats me," Oscar shrugged. "All I know is that I'm not going anywhere near that psycho."

"Fine. Whatever," VJ shrugged, he'd never really liked Oscar anyway and didn't care what he thought. He'd just hoped that his mum would be less inclined to argue if she had to fight two of them but it didn't look like it was going to turn out that way.

"VJ!" his mother scolded, "what are you thinking?! She burned our house down."

"No she didn't. The cops must've made a mistake. Didn't you see her face before she ran inside? She had no idea that fire was going to be there!"

"She's a liar and a manipulator."

"God Mum! She saved your fiancé's life! Not to mention Matt and Oscar! Shouldn't you be grateful?!"

"Grateful? We've lost everything because of her!"

"I don't care what anyone else thinks! I know she didn't do it!"

Having had enough of the pointless conversation, he started towards the door once more. It didn't matter what anyone said, they weren't going to stop him from seeing Billie if he wanted to.

"VJ. VJ, stop! You're not going back to that hospital."

"No Mum. I'm going to do what's right. Even if no one else in this town will." He didn't stick around long enough to hear her reply.

xxx

VJ passed Ash at the door. Billie's brother looked furious as he stormed past without a word, Phoebe following frantically along after him. Letting them sort their own dramas out, VJ quickly headed towards Billie's room to check that she was alright.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he stepped inside but he could see from her posture that she wasn't. She had her face turned away from the door and was curled up as tightly as she could manage in the restrictive hospital bed. "What happened?" he pressed, realising that Ash's anger probably had something to do with it.

"Marty thinks I lit the fire."

"What? That's crazy. Why would he think that?"

She turned on him, something of the anger he'd seen on her brother's face flaring up in her.

"The cops arrested me! They said I did it." VJ was stunned. How could they think that? Billie had been coming from the opposite direction when she'd spotted the flames and had thoughtlessly risked her own life to help virtual strangers.

"Aren't you gonna ask if I did it?" she pouted.

"No," he frowned, "I know you didn't. I saw your face. I'll tell the cops it wasn't you if you want me to."

She watched him suspiciously for a moment before she finally relaxed a little, allowing that maybe he was telling the truth.

"Thanks. But I think they've already made up their minds."

"Well if I can help, I will." VJ reaffirmed, taking a seat beside her. She gave him a different smile then, he thought. It wasn't tight and forced like earlier. This time, it was one that reached her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Life was so messed up. There'd been a glimmer of hope when Marty had come to see her again but that had vanished when he still wouldn't believe her.

And what was that saying? No good deed goes unpunished? Billie was experiencing that now. Thanks to her three people were alive and the cops were going to charge her with lighting the fire. And as if all that wasn't bad enough Marty thought she was a liar. She knew she'd stuffed up with Nate, but she'd just been so sick of losing. She'd suffered years stuck in an abusive relationship with Dean and then when she'd finally gotten away from him she'd found Kyle who was a great guy and everything she thought she wanted except for the fact that he hadn't been interested in anything more than sex apparently. She'd lost him because he'd still been hung-up on his ex and then when Nate came along, and she was passed over for another woman again, she couldn't take it. She'd lashed out and punished him so she wouldn't have to focus on her own pain, or look too closely at the reason behind it all. Even Andy who seemed like the most easy going bloke in town had betrayed her by firing her from the gym.

So many men had let her down. And now, the only one she had left, the only man she'd thought she could really count on, had let her down too. Her brother's betrayal was the final blow in a long line of bitter disappointments.

Deep, deep down Billie knew the reason that she felt so terrible about it all. She knew that she was to blame for making everyone turn against her. No one's luck could be so bad, something about her as a person had to be the cause of at least some of it. She was useless. A waste of space just like Nate said. His words hurt so much because she knew they were true.

Her thoughts churned with the day's events. She felt so conflicted and kept changing her mind about what it all meant. Marty's blow up was to be expected, they were Ashfords after all. Cool heads weren't a trait their family was known for but when he'd calmed down and come back to see her again he was supposed to tell her that it would be okay. That he loved her and believed in her and that they'd make it through this together. When he didn't do that it was a real kick in the guts, but probably one she deserved. No matter how she tried to look at it she kept coming back to the fact that she was to blame. His life must've been so much easier before she'd turned up in town. All of them actually. Marty, Kyle, Nate and Andy. She'd stuffed them all around and made a total mess out of everything.

What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she be happy? Why was she so hopeless? Why couldn't she ever do anything right?

But maybe she could. Maybe she could fix it all now. There was no denying they'd all be better off without her.

Billy reached down and began to pull the tubes from her arms. For once in her miserable life she was going to do the right thing.

xxx

VJ was excited to see Billie this time. Last time he'd visited her he'd seen something on her face that told him she actually kind of wanted him there. It was definitely better than the dismissive way she'd acted before. Maybe if he kept showing her that he cared, she'd let him be her friend.

When he looked into her room, expecting to find her in bed, he was confused to see that the bed was empty. He looked back out into the corridor, scanning for signs of her and noticed Hannah.

"Hey Hannah, where's Billie?"

"In her room," the nurse replied.

"No she's not."

"What?" Hannah said, rushing over and finding the room empty just like he'd said she would.

"So where is she?" VJ pressed, getting the sudden feeling that something might be very wrong.

"She should be here," Hannah said worriedly. It was the only answer she could provide.

"We need to find her," VJ decided. Billie was in no state to be wandering around on her own. Hannah agreed and they quickly devised a plan to search the building. Hannah was going to check the ward and VJ would check the cafeteria.

Hopefully the worst thing Billie had decided to do was substitute hospital food for some chips and chocolate bars, but his racing heart was at odds with that explanation as he scanned the food court with no sign of her. He began to worry that she'd run off.

Billie had strict bail conditions at the moment. She was to remain in hospital so the police knew where she was. Breaching that was going to make her look guilty, which VJ knew she wasn't. Why would she stuff up her case when she was innocent?

Back upstairs he found Hannah and Nate were discussing the medical implications of Billie's disappearance, leading him to the conclusion that they hadn't found her either.

"What'll happen if she's not found?" VJ asked.

Nate was good enough to tell him the truth this time.

"There's a risk of infection if her burn isn't cleaned regularly and she still needs fluids. She only came off life support a day ago. Not to mention the increased chance of scarring if she doesn't give it time to heal properly. She's really jeopardised her recovery by pulling this stunt."

"Okay, I get the picture," VJ said. He didn't need to hear a lecture he just wanted to know how much time he had to find her and from the sounds of it, it needed to happen sooner rather than later.


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone had gathered at the Surf Club to coordinate a larger search. All the obvious places like the beach and Billie's house had already been searched with no luck. VJ was starting to get really worried. Nate's words played over in his mind about infections and life support and on top of that he was worried about Billie's motives. If she was trying to escape the law, how long did he think she could run for in her state of health? Eventually she was going to end up in a hospital again and be found, or worse.

VJ was a ball of restless energy as he waited for Mr Stewart to begin. Time was ticking and Billie was most likely out there all alone. Maybe if Ash had been more supportive she wouldn't have run off.

The fact that VJ had been through a similar experience with his mum not too long ago didn't help his anxiety either.

He tried not to think about Billie's traitorous brother and listened carefully as Mr Stewart handed out instructions.

Dividing up the search area and having people search each section was the most effective way to look. Some people would be covering the bushland around Yabbie Creek Road. VJ was going to join the group that would search the headland. He wasn't a member of the SES but there was no way he was standing back and waiting either. Things were running pretty smoothly, Mr Stewart had plenty of experience coordinating an operation like this and Denny made a competent apprentice. They'd just concluded the meeting and VJ was keen to get going when Ash walked in. His anxiety about Billie's safety bubbled over and turned to anger when he saw the person he knew had driven her to take such drastic action.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Ash ignored him, which just made VJ angrier.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" VJ shouted, planting himself in Ash's path so he'd have to face him. So he'd have to face what he'd done. "This is your fault! She needed you and you wouldn't believe her!"

Ash glanced at him with annoyance.

"Get out of my face. It's got nothing to do with you," he said, shoving VJ back.

VJ acted on instinct and his boxing training kicked in. He swung at Ash, his fist connecting with Ash's jaw.

Ash's instincts kicked in too, and he quickly lashed out, intending to sweep VJ's legs out from under him. His plan sort of worked, but he wasn't expecting VJ's quick reaction and VJ had decided that if he was going down then Ash was coming with him. He managed to grab Ash's shirt front and used the momentum of the fall to roll them over and pin Ash beneath him. He got a couple more solid punches in before Zac and Matt were pulling him off.

"What the hell is your problem?" Ash demanded, wiping at his bloody mouth. VJ didn't feel like answering someone who was laying on the ground bleeding, all he wanted to do was find Billie so he took off to join the search.

xxx

As VJ picked his way through the twisted, salt-swept plants on the headland he heard what he thought might be a cry for help.

"Billie?!" he called back, adjusting his path to head towards the sound.

"Over here! Help!"

At the clear sound of her voice he quickened his pace, hurrying over the rocks and fallen branches, desperately trying to get to her before it was too late.

He found her struggling on the clifftop and quickly realised she was fighting to keep someone from falling.

"Hang on!" he yelled as he rushed to her aid. It was Kat who was dangling over the edge so he grabbed her too and together he and Billie began to pull the police officer to safety.

It was terrifying to think of the outcome if they let go, which made him hold on tighter. Slowly they managed to pull her up and as they dragged Kat back over the ledge, Billie fell back, landing on her left side with a cry of pain.

Satisfied that Kat was secure, VJ quickly went to check on Billie.

"Billie, are you alright?"

She bit her lip and shook her head as she clutched her leg and fought back tears. He noticed that blood was seeping through her jeans from where her burn was.

She must've hurt it again as she'd fallen back. It was obviously very painful and after what Nate had said he worried it would get infected if he didn't get her back to the hospital soon.

Leaving Kat to fend for herself, VJ scooped Billie up, carefully arranging her so that her left side faced away from him to stop the burn receiving any more damage.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him with pleading grey eyes. Looking into her eyes in that moment he felt something that might've been stronger than anything he'd ever felt before. A wave of protectiveness washed over him and he would've done anything to take her pain away.

"You're gonna be okay Billie, I've got you," he assured her before heading back in the direction where the main search party was based as quickly as he could.

It didn't take too long to get back, Billie felt light as a feather in his arms with the adrenaline surging.

"I need help!" he called as soon as he spotted an orange uniform. Suddenly people were rushing towards them and helping Billie onto a stretcher. Then Nate was there, checking her over.

"What happened?"

"She fell," VJ told the doctor. "She knocked her burn, she's in a lot of pain. You have to help her!"

"It's okay VJ, I can take it from here." Nate was already drawing up a dose of something, hopefully a painkiller, to give to Billie.

VJ stood back and let the medics work despite the fact that he was desperate to be by Billie's side. Now he just had to take comfort in the fact that he'd done all he could and let the professionals do their part.

Before long, Ash and Phoebe appeared. VJ barely noticed Ash's swollen lip and bruised jaw.

"Where was she? What happened?" Ash demanded to know. VJ wasn't in the mood for another fight, now that the adrenaline rush was subsiding and the immediate danger was gone he just felt drained and tired.

"Kat will explain," he said, noticing that the policewoman had caught up to them. He turned and walked away.

All he wanted now was to find his mum. He needed some to tell _him_ it was going to be okay. And maybe after that he could even convince her to drive him to the hospital.


	6. Chapter 6

"I was so proud of you today," said Leah.

"Even when I punched Ash out?"

"VJ..." she chided. He knew she didn't like violence but he also knew she'd let him get away with more today than she normally would.

"Sorry. Thanks Mum. It was a pretty tough day."

"I know. How are you?"

"I'm okay, but it was kinda scary, you know?"

"Oh Veej, I can't imagine how terrifying it must've been to find Billie and Kat like that."

"Yeah. It's good it worked out okay in the end but it might not have. I don't even know what she was doing up there..."

Leah's expression darkened and rather than answer, she hugged her son instead.

"Don't worry about that now. Just know you did the right thing."

"But I can't not worry Mum. I want her to be alright. Like it really matters. I can't stop thinking about her."

"That's understandable,' Leah said carefully, "the last couple of days have been pretty intense. We've all had a lot to deal with. But you don't think that maybe you're becoming a little too invested in this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think you've even really stopped and thought about the fact that the house is gone. And even if Billy didn't light the fire, she did run away from the hospital. She's had a hard life VJ and has a lot of problems, I don't think it's something a seventeen-year-old needs to take on."

Maybe his mum was right. He had tried to tell Billie that he was there for her but she'd still run away. His support hadn't seemed to matter to her. Maybe her troubles were too big for him to handle.

"So what should I do?"

"She's got her family and she's in the right place. I'm sure they'll keep a better eye on her from now on. Maybe you should just go back to school and try to forget about her."

"Yeah, maybe you're right..." he agreed because really, what could he do for her that her brother and the doctors and the cops couldn't?

xxx

"You've really done a number on this," Nate told her as he examined the burn. "It's not going to heal nearly as well as I'd hoped."

"What does that mean?" Billie asked.

"I'm afraid it's going to scar quite heavily. I'm sorry."

That sounded about right. If anything could go wrong, it would go wrong.

She'd meant to make things easier for everyone but she'd just gone and caused more trouble.

"Nate?"

"Yes?" he said, his eyes still on her leg as he carefully redressed the wound.

"I'm sorry." At the sound of the sincerity in her voice he stopped and lifted his eyes to meet hers.

"For everything," she told him. He was a great guy and didn't deserve the problems she'd caused him. She hoped he could forgive her.

"It's okay Billie, I know it wasn't your fault."

There was something like pity in his blue eyes and he was being way too nice to her but she accepted it because she wanted so much for things to be okay between them.

When he finished dressing the wound he left to check on his other patients, leaving Billie alone.

It was the first time she'd been by herself since Kat found her on the cliff top. It was all a bit of a blur now but for a second there, she'd thought that she and Kat might both have fallen and her terror in that moment was how she knew she didn't want to die.

The decision to live was about as far as her plans went though. In fact she didn't really know how to live at all. She'd been a kid when she got tangled up with Dean, and for all the years she'd spent with him until now, he'd always called the shots. She'd barely had to make a decision in her entire adult life. There was only one she could think of and that was to leave him. She'd known she needed to get out but even then it was a chance encounter that reconnected her with Marty, until the day at Luke's grave she'd been living out of her car. Nothing had really changed since then, she still had no idea how to go about getting her life back on track. She was trying to figure out where to start when Marty walked through the door.

He looked miserable, probably because he'd come off second best in a fight judging by the fresh bruises on his face and the split in his lip.

"What happened to you?"

"Leah's crazy kid had a go at me."

"VJ?" Come to think of it she was surprised her rescuer hadn't been in to see her yet. She was a little disappointed, she hadn't had a chance to thank him yet. "Looks like he had more than a go."

"Well I couldn't really hit him back, could I?"

"Sure Marty. What'd he hit you for anyway?"

"He reckoned it was my fault you ran off. Was it?"

"No, of course not," she said, unable to look him in the eye.

"It was, wasn't it? I never meant to push you away but what was I supposed to think after everything with Nate?" What did he want her to say? That he'd let her down once too often? That she felt sick because she couldn't trust the only family she had left? "You scared the hell out of me Billie. What were you doing up on that cliff?"

"Nothing." She wasn't entirely sure herself so could she explain it to someone else?

"Billie, c'mon," he pleaded, taking her hand and waiting for her to look him in the eye. "We used to be able to tell each other everything."

"I tried and you wouldn't believe me."

"I'm sorry. If you look me in the eye now and tell me you didn't light that fire, I'll believe you."

He was trying to make things right but he could only do that if she let him. If she was serious about getting her life back on track then fixing her family was an obvious place to start.

"I didn't do it Marty. Why would I? And why would I run back in there if I did? I'm the one that got hurt. I'm the one that ended up on life support and now Nate says it's never going to get better."

The tears she been holding back, maybe ever since Marty went jail, flowed thick and fast now and she let Marty hold her because she had no one else.

"Oh Billie, how did we end up here? I'm gonna do whatever I can to help."

"Thanks," she sniffed.

When her tears had run their course he pulled back so he could see her face. She probably looked terrible, all red and puffy, but he didn't seem to mind. He brushed her hair back like he used to when they were kids. His voice even took on the same soothing tone he used to use.

"And I think that starts with you getting the professional help you need. Nate thinks, and I do too, that it might be a good idea if you go to the city and get some counselling."

How could he say that? They were just finding each other again after everything and now he wanted to send her away. "Marty, no! I don't want to go."

"Billie, I read some of your journal-"

"You shouldn't have!"

"I thought it might help me find you. It's not the point. The point is we both know you have issues that are too heavy for us to deal with on our own. Don't you want to get better?"

Of course she did, but being shipped off wasn't the answer. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to be among strangers again, she'd spent six years living like that, bouncing from town to town and never having the chance to get to know anyone properly or belong anywhere.

"Can't I do it here? Please? Please Marty, don't make me go."

"Okay, okay I won't. You can stay here for now." He pulled her into his arms again. "We'll find a way to make it work."

 **AN: I'm varying the plot from the show here in that Billie is going to stay in Summer Bay. Thanks for reading :)**


	7. Chapter 7

VJ loved his mother and most of the time he listened to her but this time she was wrong. He didn't like school at the best of times and with thoughts of Billie racing through his head all day it was impossible to concentrate at all. He should've gone to see her. It felt wrong to just walk away which was why he caught the bus to Yabbie Creek straight after school.

When he poked his head in the door he was relieved to find Billie in her bed where she was supposed to be.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hi," she smiled back. He noticed she had a pretty smile when she wasn't holding back.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. School and everything, it's such a pain..."

School, Billie realised, of course that's all it was. She couldn't expect him to put his life on hold for her.

"How are you?" he asked. It was such a different approach to Marty's she appreciated. No demands, just concern for her welfare. It was refreshing.

"I'm okay," she shrugged, "and I guess I have you to thank for that."

"I'm just glad you're okay," he said, venturing into the room and taking a seat beside her.

"You're making a bit of a habit out of this," he told her.

"Of what? Running away?"

"No," he laughed, "saving lives. You'd make a great lifesaver. You should talk to Palmer about it."

She smiled along but knew that was never going to happen, not after what Nate had said about the damage she'd done to her burn and the scars she would have. It was nice of him though, to think that she might be capable of something like that.

"I saw what you did to Marty's face."

"Oh that. So he came to see you then?"

"Yeah. I think he believes me now but that might just be because he's scared of what I'll do."

They lapsed into thoughtful silence for a moment.

"Billie? What were you doing out there?"

It wasn't like when Mary asked the question. When he'd asked he'd already known the answer. VJ didn't. Could he really be so young he hadn't guessed? That actually kinda made her feel better, he wasn't going to pity her and tread on eggshells like everyone else did.

"Honestly? I don't know. I just knew I couldn't sit around here any longer."

"Fair enough," he accepted, "people can get a bit much sometimes and it must've sucked that no one else believed you."

It felt good to talk to someone who had no ulterior motive or vested interest. Marty needed her to be okay. Her therapist pushed her to face things she didn't want to. The doctors wanted her better to free up a hospital bed. The cops were waiting to throw her in jail. But VJ wasn't like any of them. He had no reason to talk to her except that he wanted to. It had been a long time since she'd known anyone like that. She wondered if it meant she might actually be making a real friend. Maybe if he stuck around long enough she'd be able to count him as one one day. She thought she might like that.

"I can't stay much longer," he said, checking the time on his phone, "I've got to go to training but I'll see if I can come back another time?"

"What training?"

"Basketball."

That made her smile, she should've guessed. What other game would a six foot two kid play?

"Well okay, I'll see you later."

"VJ?"

He paused in the door and looked back at her with bright blue eyes.

"Yeah?"

"You can come visit me whenever you want."

"Okay, cool," he said, trying to act cool. She didn't bother telling him that his beaming smile gave him away.

It must be nice to be a kid if something so simple was all it took to make you happy.

xxx

The smile disappeared from VJ's face when he ran into Ash outside.

If it was up to him he would've kept walking but Ash stopped. He didn't look like he was gearing up for a fight but VJ stayed on alert just in case.

"I wanted to thank you," he said, "for helping Billie."

"Okay," he shrugged. Gratitude from Ash didn't mean much to VJ.

"I mean it. I don't know what would've happened if you weren't there, so thanks."

"I'm just glad she's okay."

"Me too. She said she wasn't the one that burned your house down."

"She didn't," VJ said decisively.

"You know who did?" Ash asked hopefully.

"No, I just know she didn't do it and you should've too."

"You're right. I stuffed up..."

"Yeah you did. She's a hero and you should've believed her."

"I know and I want to make it right now. What makes you so sure it wasn't her?"

"I watched her run inside when the rest of us just stood there. It's so unfair that she's being blamed for something she didn't do."

"So I guess the question now is, if Billie didn't light that fire, who did?"

"I wish I knew. Maybe you should talk to Kat," VJ suggested. "She might listen now after everything that's happened."

"That's not a bad idea, I think I will. Thanks."

VJ felt a little better as he walked away. Not that he really gave a damn about Ash but he knew Billie was going to need all the allies she could get.


End file.
